I've seen my fair share of insane buildings over the years but I reckon I just stumbled across one of the strangest yet in the form of a Chinese hotel. What's also interesting is that, to my knowledge, very few English speaking websites have seen or mentioned what has got to be one of the most bizarre pieces of hotel architecture on Earth.

Without further ado, I give you Tianzi Hotel...

Image Credit: Panoramio User bbqi

Image Credit: godeyes.cn

Image Credit: godeyes.cn

Image Credit: chinavisual.com

To begin, this incredible hotel seems to have a few different names depending on what you read, as far as I can tell it has been known as: Tianzi Hotel, The Emperor Hotel, Son Of Heaven Hotel, and, in Chinese, 天子大酒. The hotel is located in Hebei Province and according to Chinese architecture blog CAIP it was built some time around 2000/2001, The building is 10 storeys/41.6m high and was designed to represent Fu Lu Shou (good fortune, prosperity and longevity). The blog also points out that the hotel won a Guiness World Record for being the world's 'biggest image building'. Largest mimetic building perhaps?

Finally, you'll notice that Shou, the chap on the left as you face the hotel, is holding what is apparently a peach. That peach is actually a suite within the hotel, the two holes in its front being windows.

Searching for the hotel on Google Maps proved to be extremely frustrating, but thankfully after much scrolling I found the building. Here it is.

All in all, a ridiculously designed hotel that could only be eclipsed by something unimaginably odd.